MISPRONUNCIATION = MISCOMMUNICATION

Almost halfway through our 3rd week of "changing the world, one Thai kid at a time," and it's starting to become clear and organized. I don't think I will ever consider teaching easy, but I will say that I'm feeling more and more comfortable as each class passes.

This past weekend we went to Koh Samet again. This time we met up with Connor, Becca, Katie, and Chelsea. We actually stayed in Ban Phe the first night. We stayed at the Bedrock Guesthouse, which was pretty chill. Some old Aussie owned the place with his much much younger Thai wife. This lady made the best hamburger I've had since being in the Orient. I was in heaven at this place. I had an ice cold beverage, a hamburger, and Sportscenter all at my disposal. There was no way Steph was getting me to go on a walk with her. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to feel American. It rarely happens here.

The next morning we caught the ferry to Koh Samet. This time we found a cheaper place to stay called Naga Bungalows. Though Steph and I aren't too worried about money now that we have a second source of income. Three nights a week we tutor three Thai's in English. I help 25 year old, Byrd, and his 30 year old sister, Ning. Steph offers tutelage to a 4 foot, 100lb 9 year old boy named Mammouth. So we got that goin for us.

Anyways, Saturday we chilled on the beach for awhile, then we decided to go on a sunset boat ride. During the ride we stopped twice to get out and snorkel, which was mildly entertaining due to the lack of fish and aquatic foliage. Also, the sunset was blocked by some unexpected cloud coverage, so we missed that. Not to worry, the crew had a backup plan. "We are going to a fish farm!" The fish farm was actually pretty cool. We got to see some sea turtles and other large marine life. Before we took off for the fish farm we were fortunate enough to get this glamour shot.

That night we went bar hoping along the beach with our flyers that got us one free drink at several different places. Then we split up. Connor and I went to Naga Bar to watch a few Muy Thai fights, while the women drank at the Sunrise Bar and had young chiseled Thai boys paint all over their bodies. We met up later and stumbled across a group of puppies huddled together on the beach. This is no joke. I thought it was a dream myself. There were 5 fresh puppies huddling together for warmth out on the open beach. Needless to say we played with them for awhile and then built them a defense system in case some drunkard stumbled across them in the middle of the night. I couldn't leave until I felt they were secure. Cue pizza and slumber.

The next morning we got some breakfast and jumped on the ferry back to the mainland. Funs over. Now it's time for school.

Fast forward to Monday of week 4. Steph and I realized that all of our lesson plans are following the same pattern. Class starts with the students screaming vocab at us while we write it on the board. Then we teach them "model language" that is related to the vocab for the lesson. This week our lesson plan is about shopping. So the model language is:

"How much is the ______?"

" It costs ________ baht."

"Would you like to buy it?"

" Yes I would" or "No, thank you"

The students get into pairs and run through the dialogue that they will surely use one day and we go around and check all of them for pronunciation. MISPRONUNCIATION = MISCOMMUNICATION. After this we change the dialogue a little by adding a preposition here or changing a verb there. This is difficult for most classes. Only the upper levels of each grade can grasp this step. And then if there's any time left, or if my voice still exists, we will play a game.

I'm getting very bored with these lesson plans, and I'm sure the students are too. I want to incorporate more materials and activities. I want my classes to be fun. I want the students to walk into my classroom gasping for air, because they just sprinted across campus in hopes of getting their first to get a seat up front. But I guess that's every teacher's dream.